BOOK: Patterns in Design, Art and Architecture

"... on the other, he had to witness, on returning to Europe at the turn of the century, the "decline of craftsmanship"(6) and an unprecedented inflation in ornamentation. What craftsmen had earlier produced laboriously, retaining century-old traditions, machines could now produce quick as the wind in any desired quantity and in almost any materials: frill, tendrils, intent wining and floral features."

"Around 1900, the utility of objects, which are turned out inexpensively as mass-produced goods, had surrogates for craft manufactures in the form of 'traditional motifs' applied to them, to ensure a favourable response from a substantial public."